Railway-tie plate.



Patented Jan. I4, 1902. I

w. s. Jones.

RAILWAY TIE PLATE.

(Application filed July 12, 1899.:

' (No Model.)

5 l NITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

wILLIs s. JONES, or CHICAGO, ILLINoIs, AssIeNoR TO DAVID s. wires, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

RAILWAY-TIE PLATE.

EEGIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 691 ,317, dated January 14, 1902.

Application filed July 12, 1.899.

SerialNO. 723,540. (No model.) I

To all whom it may concern.-

Be itknown that I, WILLIS S. JONES, a citi-.

My invention has for its object the prod no- ,tion of a railway-tie plate which shall combine several novel and useful features.

The invention belongs to that class of plates wherein the under side of the plate is provided with tie-engaging flanges which enter and extend parallel with the grain of the tie when the plate is in position thereon. It has been found by experiment that the plate of the greatest elficiency is one wherein each side edge of the plate is provided at the edge with a depending flange adapted to enter the tie and wherein one or more corresponding flanges depend from the body of the plate within the outer edges. My particular-aim in this invention is therefore 'to provide such a plate and to combine with it.certain other advantageous featuresas, for instance, the provision on the top of, the plate of sandgrooves, whereby any accumulation of sand between the rail and plate will work into the groove, and thus prevent the grinding away of the bearing-surface of the plate and the rail. Now I have found that by locating these sand-grooves directly above the under side depending flanges I can materially reduce the weight of the plate without affecting its strength.

The invention therefore consists, generally speaking, in the provision of a plate having depending tie-engaging flanges at its edges and one or more intermediate depending flanges with grooves in the top of the plates above the flanges. My plate also embodies other novel features to be hereinafter described.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective View of my plate. Fig. 2 is a cross-section illustrating the relation of the rail-tie and tie-plate.

In carrying out my invention, A represents the plate proper, B the depending, flanges at the edges of the plate, and C the intermediate depending flanges.

D represents sand-grooves in the upper surface of the plate, preferably located directlyabove the intermediate tie-engaging -flanges G.

I will now call. particular attention to the rounded corners a at each longitudinal edge of the plate. Thepurpose of these rounded edges is to throw the strain or weight of the rail onto the plate at a point inside the edge or at a point inside the edge tie-engaging flanges. Another purpose is to prevent the wear on the edge of the plate due to what might be termed a rockin of the rail-that is to say, a vertical motion of the rail caused by the weight of the' passing wheel on the rail between the ties, thereby depressing the rail slightly at this point, while that portion of the rail above the tie is very slightly raised. This tilting of the rail is of course very slight and is not perceptible, except in its efiect upon the tie-plates after continued usage, but practical usage of the plate has demonstrated that there is such a tilting of the rails, and a practical use of my improved plate shows that the rounded edges overcome the wear due to this slight tilting. At this point also it might be well to call attention to the particular advantage of having a tie-engaging flange at the edge. This same tilting motion of the rail which I have just described acts to loosen the plate to a great or less extent when the'tie-engaging flanges are not at the edge, but with the flanges at this point and with the rounded edge the plate is held firmly in place and will not rock upon the tie. Another feature of my invention is the slight flaring out of the tie-engaging flanges B. The advantage of this is that as the flanges enter the tie they enter it in a slight diagonal direction, thus locking the plate more firmly in place.

Another material advantage is the thinning of the metal, as at E. Thus while maintaining the thickness of the plate, as at E,

the weight is reduced for a given size and thickness of the plate by thinningthe metal at the same vertical portions Where the metal is more or less on edge, and a thinner body of metal can stand the pressure brought on it.

What I claim isf 1. A railway-tie plate oonsistin go'f a plate having curved edges terminating in downwardly extending tapered, tie engaging flanges, parallel grooves in the upper face of the plate and tapered flanges in line with and below the grooves, their upper edges reinforcing or strengthening the metal walls of the grooves, substantially as described.

2. A railway-tie plate having curved edges WILLIS S. JONES.

Witnesses: WALTER H. OHAMBERLIN, GERTRUDE HEIDELBERGER. 

